LIVERPOOL once turned down chance to sign Christian Pulisic… but he set them on their way to a first league title in 30 years.
Jurgen Klopp always spoke of his admiration for the former Borussia Dortmund star – whom he worked with at the Bundesliga giants.
Klopp once turned down the chance to sign Pulisic – but he set them on their way to a first title in 30 years
But the Reds boss never made his move, so as to not disrupt his star front-three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Klopp instead signed a back-up player – rather than a star with regular first-team intentions – in bringing in ex-Stoke man Xherdan Shaqiri.
And it may have just reaped the ultimate reward, as Pulisic scored the opening goal of Chelsea’s huge clash with Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side needed to win in order to delay Liverpool’s charge – with anything less resulting in the Reds being crowned champions.
‘KLOPP MASTERCLASS’
Klopp’s side had demolished Crystal Palace just 24 hours with four fantastic goals to signal their intent.
But with just minutes left in the first half, Pulisic jinked his way through the City defence and slotted home the coolest of finishes to give the Blues the lead.
At half-time at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool fans were in heaven – thanking Chelsea in a rare show of love to their fierce modern-day rivals.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “Jurgen Klopp masterclass. Started off Pulisic’s career in Germany, declined signing him for Liverpool so that he could go to Chelsea for this exact moment.”
Another captioned a snap of Klopp patting Pulisic on the head back in their Dortmund days: “That’s my boy.”
Another praised sporting directer Michael Edwards, tweeting: “So Pulisic tries for a move to Liverpool only for Edwards to turn down the price so that he goes to Chelsea so that he scores the title winning goal against City?
“Michael Edwards, he’s done it again.”
A third joked: “Pulisic doing more for Liverpool than Gerrard ever did…”
Another simply said: “Pulisic. Liverpool legend.”
Man City fought back in the second half, Kevin De Bruyne scoring a sensational free-kick.
But when Fernandinho was sent off late on for handball, Willian stepped up and stroked home a penalty to give Chelsea a 2-1 win – and hand Liverpool the title.
That meant raucous celebrationso on Merseyside, Jurgen Klopp crying and Reds players celebrating long into the night.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
